I think this is a deserving topic of discussion after having watched 2 of the seperate collections, and it is an ongoing series. Granted there is some crap in there but quite a few of them are pretty good and warrant a little discussion.

I'll start with:

MOCKING THE COSMOS
my rating: ***

It is two stories in one, you have the child who is surrounded by self-centered divorced parents. The other story intertwined is that there is a ping pong ball that is the site of microscopic aliens who land and are supposed to "study" the human race they find on the ping pong ball. I thought the acting was brilliant on all sides, especially considering the 4 aliens are actually the 4 main characters in real life, just costumed and make-upped.. but in both sides of their double roles the acting is terrific. What really captures me is the true reality of the situation, the child doesn't have a grasp on the chaotic perverse world of his idiotic grown up parents, but to form some sense of peace and normalcy, he either imagines or actually tunes into the alien story which is one of true sacrafice, honor, love, and betrayal - those aspects missing from his real life which he interprets into the alien story. The title of the first and third act is similar to "We're never as big as we think we are", which ends up being true both metaphorically and realistically, in both the alien story and in real life in seperate ways. Technically it looks great as well and sound was fine especially the music, but I must admit the story, while brilliant, still lacks something... a little too loose in places and could have been tightened up.

Strong acting and dialogue though, in the end I felt bad for the genius kid and I felt like punching the arrogant father and mother, exactly as it should be. Mission accomplished, but as I said just || this close to perfect. Great for a short though. Unfortunately, voters at IMDB don't feel the same way apparently: http://imdb.com/title/tt0170254/ .

Now its your turn, what gems have you found?

donald gregory

03-03-2004, 10:52 PM

I might be off on the title. It might be 'Jimmy Likes Peaches'.

I saw it on IFC while visiting family in Texas. First time I had ever had an IFC channel to watch. I was excited to get digital cable, just to have th IFC channel. Unfortunately, since having IFC for almost a year now, I have yet to see anything on it, that caught my interest nearly as much.

NicklausLouis

03-05-2004, 12:32 AM

One night I caught a small movie called Kaaterskill Falls (http://www.whiskeyoutpost.com/kf/index.html) (it actually might have been on Sundance). It was a nice little film that was 90% improv. I wouldn't say that it was a great film or a gem, but it was a nice find when I wasn't really looking.

Also, check out Melvin Goes to Dinner (http://www.melvingoestodinner.com/). It's really good. I was a big fan of Mr. Show (http://www.bobanddavid.com/) and I was excited to see Bob Odenkirk's little indie film. It far exceded my expectations. It should be coming to IFC soon.

I know this isn't exactly on topic, but I think it fits the spirit of the post.

Poke

indietalk

03-05-2004, 01:26 AM

One night I caught a small movie called Kaaterskill Falls (http://www.whiskeyoutpost.com/kf/index.html) (it actually might have been on SundancePoke

Yeah I've seen it .. I watched it because I love Kaaterskill Falls .. the second largest waterfall in the NE (first being Niagra) ... and there's no tourists, because you have to hike to it.

:-)

Zensteve

03-14-2004, 06:52 AM

[quote=pokewowplayer1]...Kaaterskill Falls .. the second largest waterfall in the NE (first being Niagra)

Actually, that would depend on how "largest" is detemined.

Taughannock Falls, just outside of Ithaca (NY) is much higher than Niagara Falls (US side). As a free-fall waterfall, it is also much higher than Kaaterskill Falls... which has a secondary base to bounce off.

http://www.priweb.org/ed/finger_lakes/taughannock_falls.html

http://www.catskillcenter.org/gallery/photo210.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls#Waterfalls

In terms of free-fall height...

...Taughannock Falls is the the tallest of the three, in NY.

While Kaaterskill does enjoy an aditional 80' from a secondary fall... it is still a secondary fall.

That's not to say that Taughannock is the most impressive set of falls to photgraph... far from it! Of the three, Taughannock would be last. Just setting the record straight on "largest".... as far as NY goes.